Jan Zane-Chin and her daughter Alyssa now drink water from the faucet instead of buying bottled water, cut back on Alyssa's hula competitions because of the cost, clip coupons and buy food on sale.

Zane-Chin, like untold others in Hawai'i, now finds herself squeezing even more out of every dollar she earns as a public school teacher to cover higher costs for everything from milk to electricity, which has jumped from $80 per month to $144 to power her three-bedroom, three-bath home in Kuli'ou'ou.

So Zane-Chin's leaning even harder on the values she learned growing up in Turkey, Japan, South Korea and South Carolina as the daughter of an Army sergeant first class and a mother who made her own clothes.

"That's how I was brought up," Zane-Chin said. "It's more common sense. That's how I learned to save money."

Zane-Chin faces the same rising fuel, food and energy costs as everyone else. But she's also absorbing a new big-ticket expense with Alyssa enrolling as a freshman this fall at Punahou School, where the tuition just went up 6 percent to $16,675.

Alyssa will probably attend Punahou with the same backpack she's used since the fifth grade.

"She's not one of these gimme-gimme kids," Zane-Chin said. "She's great. She's like me. We take care of everything we have and it lasts."

It's those old-school values that Karena Yee believes will help others cope with ever-increasing costs at the same time that Hawai'i's economy is slowing down.

Yee, a certified public accountant, is also executive director of Hawai'i-based CSI Inc., a fee-for-service, nonprofit organization used as a referral service by the city's senior help line. Yee sees an opportunity in hard times for parents to teach their children cost-saving values.

"The younger generation needs to really focus and learn about money management," Yee said. "We live in a spending society with an instant-gratification mentality. Their parents — our current generation — has been guilty, as well."

For everyone struggling with higher prices, Yee has a simple, common-sense approach:

"There are always, always, always places to cut back," she said. "It just takes discipline. It's never too late to start."

Zane-Chin has been teaching third grade at Ma'ema'e School in Nu'uanu for the last 19 years and, like a lot of Hawai'i teachers, spends her own money supplying her classroom. So she began shopping for school supplies just as school ended, when $3 binders could be purchased for $1.

But her biggest savings come from the biggest expenses.

Zane-Chin turns to friends for referrals for plumbers and roofers, which sometimes results in savings of up to 50 percent.

"I'm always looking for sales and bargains," she said. "But my greatest resource is word of mouth from friends."

Eight years ago, she met Bert Uyeunten, an involved parent of one of her students who frequently read to the class.

Then Zane-Chin learned that Uyeunten owned his own auto repair business in Iwilei — Bowtie Automotive.

"Oh," she told Uyeunten. "So you're a mechanic."

Zane-Chin still brings her car to Uyeunten for regular maintenance.

"When money's tight, it's especially important to take care of what you have," Zane-Chin said.

As he prepared Zane-Chin's Camry for an oil change and tire rotation recently, Uyeunten said Zane-Chin has the right philosophy for maintaining her 2003 Toyota Camry.

In the last several weeks, Uyeunten has been getting more and more big repair jobs from customers who tried to scrimp on things like oil changes, which can cause sludge to build up, resulting in major repairs.

Uyeunten walked across his shop, where a car sat with most of its engine removed. "It'll just cost you more in the long run," he said.

They are the kind of values that Zane-Chin is teaching her daughter. And Zane-Chin hopes the message has gotten through.

This year, Alyssa will participate in only one hula competition, which can cost up to $700 for costumes, flowers and other expenses, even if it's on O'ahu.

For Alyssa's competition this September, Zane-Chin has volunteered as a chaperone, which includes a hotel room at the Ko Olina Resort & Marina.

And when Alyssa got a cell phone, she offered not to have a text-messaging plan, Zane-Chin said.

"I told her, 'With the cost of everything, maybe Mom needs to work summer school,' " Zane-Chin said. "She said, 'Mommy, you work so hard during the year. I would rather do without.' "